March 25, 1911 started off like any other Saturday at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
It was the final day of the six-day standard work week in the New York City sweatshops where mentally exhausting sewing work was done largely by young, immigrant women getting limited pay in harsh conditions. A strike two years earlier resulted in many of the factory’s workers getting fired.
When the fateful workday was finished, 146 workers were killed — some as young as 13 — in a horrific factory fire that helped change American economic history. The dead included my Great Aunt Fannie, a 20-year-old recent immigrant from Lithuania.
Those seamstresses toiled in a blouse-making facility loaded with flammable material, making it impossible for firefighters to help. Smoldering rags turned into a blaze that lasted just a half-hour. It forced my grandfather’s little sister to plunge roughly 100 feet to her death to escape the killer flames and smoke.
So 108 years later, on this grim day, a big political debate swirls around the value of the capitalism that powers the U.S. economy. I must note that worshipping economic profit is a two-edged sword.
Yes, a shot at wealth drives many folks to hustle and innovate, to advance themselves, family, friends and co-workers. Yes, that monetizing spirit can enrichen the broad economy.
But at what cost? It sadly takes a tragedy such as the Triangle Fire to awaken enough folks to see that capitalism is by no means perfect. And cutting corners, often putting workers or customers at risk, is a time-tested profit booster.
Much is made of the Triangle Fire’s impact on the American labor movement. The ensuing outrage gave momentum to the emerging strength of unions, with garment workers at the forefront of workplace organizing efforts.
Without this spark, who knows how much longer it would have taken to establish many modern workplace norms — such as shorter work weeks, paid vacation and leave, child labor limits and even the minimum wage.
Less discussed are the equally tangible workplace improvements that followed Great Aunt Fannie’s sad demise: building-safety codes.
The Asch Building that housed the Triangle Factory — at the time one of the boss-friendly city’s largest garment makers — was a disaster waiting to happen.
The 10-story tower didn’t have enough exits to handle any emergency situation. It had no alarm system. It had no sprinklers. While its exterior was fire-proof terra cotta and steel, floors and window frames were made of flammable wood. The workplace itself was overfilled with easily combustible fabrics.
Oh, and the top three stories of the Asch Building — where Triangle’s blouses were made — were above the six-story limits of the firefighting equipment of that era.
In the fire’s aftermath, workplace safety issues that were once decried as cost-prohibitive measures soon became codified. National building codes evolved with an emphasis on standards for emergency exits, fire suppression and even the habit of practicing escapes with drills.
In fact, the post-fire repair of the Asch Building — today it’s known as the Brown building on the New York University campus — included adding a water tower and sprinklers.
All the legal changes did not punish the Triangle Factory owners. Not only were the factory owners cleared of criminal wrongdoing, they also got a handsome insurance payout for business damages. Families of the dead got settlements approximating $75 per worker.
Sadly, that’s how capitalism too often works. The much-heralded free market often requires dead bodies to fix things. Great Aunt Fannie Lansner learned that lesson the hard way.
